‘Eyes of the nation are on California’: Biden urges voters to reject ‘Trump clone’ in recall
President Joe Biden on Monday urged Californians to reject the political forces that swept Donald Trump to power and vote to keep Gov. Gavin Newsom in office on the eve of the recall election.
“You either keep Gavin Newsom as your governor, or you’ll get Donald Trump,” Biden said at a campaign rally in Long Beach. He cast the leading Republican in the race — conservative talk show host Larry Elder — as a Trump acolyte and said, “The choice should be absolutely clear.”
Biden’s remarks in support of Newsom on the eve of the Tuesday election was part of a broader effort by Democrats to prevail over a brand of politics they argue is destructive to democracy and dangerous to public health amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The political positions that Trump championed have been embraced by Republicans seeking to replace Newsom as governor, Biden warned as he chastised his predecessor.
“All of you know that last year I got to run against the real Donald Trump. Well, this year, this year, the leading Republican running for governor is a — the closest thing to a Trump clone that I have ever seen in your state,” Biden said. “He’s the clone of Donald Trump. Can you imagine him being governor of this state? You can’t let that happen.”
Trump, who last year became the first president to lose re-election since former President George H.W. Bush in 1992, was mentioned frequently during Monday’s rally.
Newsom, who spoke before Biden, also framed the race as a referendum on the former Republican president, who lost California by roughly 5 million votes last year.
“We may have defeated Donald Trump, but we have not defeated Trumpism,” Newsom said. “Trumpism is still on the ballot in California.”
He said it was important to make a statement “that Trumpism has no place here and Trumpism will be defeated all across the United States of America, because we’re better than that.”
Biden’s late visit to California amounts to a final effort by the governor’s campaign to engage with Democratic voters, just hours before Tuesday’s vote. Political strategists from both parties have debated whether the last-minute rally can change the minds of many voters.
But Biden sought to amplify the stakes, arguing that what happens in this week’s recall election will reverberate around the country.
“The eyes of the nation, this is not hyperbole, the eyes of the nation are on California,” Biden said.
Biden also touted the necessity of supporting measures to slow the coronavirus pandemic and to combat climate change, an issue he addressed earlier in the day during a stopover in Sacramento to survey wildfire damage in the area.
He also cited a new law restricting abortion in Texas as proof that women’s rights are in jeopardy across the country, including in California.
“If you don’t think women’s rights are under assault, you’re not looking,” Biden said. “California, keep Gavin Newsom and send a message to the nation: Women are to be respected and their rights protected.”
Late Visit
Newsom said in mid-August that a Biden visit was in the works. Since then, Biden’s poll numbers sagged as his administration drew scrutiny for its tumultuous withdrawal of American military forces from Afghanistan.
White House deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to tell reporters traveling with Biden on Air Force One why the president waited until the day before the deadline to vote in the recall election to travel to California.
“We endorsed the governor — the vice president and the president — and I’ll leave it there,” she said.
When pressed on the timing, the White House spokeswoman said, “This is what the president — you know, the president of the United States do: They — they do several things at the same time. But I’m not going to go into any reasoning why he’s going now instead of two, three weeks ago.”
Republican and Democratic political strategists expect Newsom to survive the recall vote. The race appeared competitive earlier in the summer, when a pair of polls in July showed support for keeping the incumbent below 50%.
But concern that California could soon have a Republican governor appeared to galvanize many once-apathetic Democratic voters, particularly as Elder emerged as the leading alternative to Newsom. Support for keeping the governor in office has now risen to near 60%, according to recent polls.
California voters, who were issued mail-in ballots nearly a month ago, have returned more than 8 million ballots, according to Political Data Inc.
Ballots must be postmarked by Tuesday. Californians may also turn in their ballots to a voting location, county elections offfice or deposit them in a secure drop box before 8 p.m.
This story was originally published September 13, 2021 at 11:59 PM with the headline "‘Eyes of the nation are on California’: Biden urges voters to reject ‘Trump clone’ in recall."
